opinions about the theory of evolution?

Question

well, they said that there's a missing link on the theory of evolution, and if that missing link is found, it will be proven that we descended from apes/monkeys.. companies actually spend billions and billions of money to find this missing link... but the question is, why is it so important to find out if the theory of evolution is true? why spend a lot of money just to prove a theory? what will happen to our lives if it is proven? will the status of your life change? or not?


please help me, i need your opinions..

(this is my homework, by the way)

^_^

"they said" - refers to rumors or anything similar, .. forget the money part ...

and what i'm really asking is that, is it really important to your life if you knew the truth? will it change your way of living? i want opinions, and excuse me, but i do believe that the theory of evolution is not yet proven to be completely true.. i just want OPINIONS, ok?

Answer 1

I suspect it is true and it really doesn't and won't change my life. I like all kinds of animals, even those that gave birth to my disgusting ancestors.

Answer 2

The status of our lives will not change if we find the missing link. It will be the equivalent of any other great discovery. Knowledge in science needs no justification, as such, since the pursuit of knowledge is a means and an end, in itself.
I'm not sure how much money is spent on searching for the "missing link", but I'm sure that a lot of knowledge is gained along the way, and many early human forms have no doubt been discovered while looking for it.
There are several reasons for finding out if the theory of evolution is true.

Firstly, I believe there is enough evidence that it is undoubtedly true, and the arguments against it are predominantly faith-based, not scientific. Establishing this as an incontrovertible fact would certainly deal many religions a severe body blow, particularly the fundamentalist christians.

Secondly, As I said before, science is about learning, and should not be restricted by wondering about its importance.

Answer 3

Who are "they", those people who say that there is a missing link that will prove the theory of evolution beyond a shadow of a doubt?

First off, there is no "missing link" that is half human/half ape. No self respecting biologist believes that a "missing link" in these terms will ever be found. There are thousands (probably) of "missing links", each with varying degrees of fully/partially human traits. The idea that there is one, definitive missing link is a fallacy perpetuated by creationists.

Secondly, there isn't any evidence supporting the theory of evolution that claims humans evolved from monkeys/apes. Humans evolved from some sort of primate ancestor, which apes and monkeys also evovled from, but saying that ancestor was an ape or a monkey is not correct.

Third, why is it important? The theory in general has many applications. It is used in bioinformatics, disease and pest control, fisheries management, pubilc health policy making, drug discovery, epidemiology, identification of new organisms, genetic algorithms, and the list goes on. Since the "missing link" is something of a myth, there isn't much use in looking for it specifically.

Answer 4

there is not a single missing link, there are hundred thousands, because there are tons of extinct species which all evolved from other species. That said, you could equally well say that each and every new fossil found was a missing link, because it fits somewhere in the tree of life. The evolution of humans is pretty well established and can look that up on e.g. wikipedia yourself.
A very practical application of evolutionary theory is contained in the instructions your doctor gives you when s/he is prescribing antibiotics. You are supposed to take the full course so all bacteria will be killed. If you stop taking the antibiotics after a few days because you feel better, you will have killed the bacteria which are most susceptible and left the least susceptible alive. Which can easily lead to a strain of antibiotic resistant bacteria, with all the problems now occuring in hospitals.
Evolutionary theory helps thinking about all kinds of pest control which will influence the food you will eat and how expensive it is. Understanding evolution lets us understand better how far results obtained from other species (as in medical test but also basic research) is appliable to humans. Just because you are not aware of it, it does not mean that you don't constantly benefit from the help it gives to all kind of biological research.

Answer 5

*sigh*

Evolution is an observed fact, as far as the actual definition in biology of "allele frequency changes over time" is concerned.

As for the theory, there is a lot more backing it up than some "missing link" which technically isn't missing. We've got more than enough links, both genetically and archeologically, to modern primates to confirm the link. And for your information (homework and such) the fact that it's a scientific theory shows that it HAS been proven. If it hadn't, it would be a mere hypothesis.

And it IS important that it is true as most modern biology is based on facts of evolution. Bacterial drug resistance for one thing.

By the way, universities do receive funding from other companies but it's not all spent on researching evolution, not sure where you got that idea.

Answer 6

The theory of evolution does not say that humans evolved from "apes/monkeys." This is the most annoying misconception and is probably why so many people don't believe in it. there is no so called "missing link"
apes and monkeys didn't "turn into" humans like *snap*

The theory states that apes and monkeys and humans had a common ancestor.

Its really complicated actually, but over many many many years, somehow the genes were affected which allowed that ancestor to turn into a different species...and blah blah, humans and other things emerged. Thats the theory anyways.

It's important to some people, because humans are just so damn curious to figure out where they came from.

Answer 7

Sushi, first of all, there are **no** companies spending billions of dollars looking for any missing link. Most science, and *certainly* evolutionary biology, is not carried out by private industry. Instead, it's carried out by scientists employed by universities, museums, and a few research centers. The funding for this type of work comes not from the private sector, for the most part, but from the Federal government (your tax dollars).

Now, as to this issue of trying to "prove" the theory of evolution... From a philosophical perspective, there's no such thing as "proof" in science. We (scientists) cannot prove anything. For example, we cannot even prove that when you drop a pen from your hand, it will fall to the ground. Instead, we can only *disprove* alternatives, for example, that the dropped pen will fly 30,000 feet into the air. ...easy enough to essentially disprove. So from a purely technical perspective, no one is trying to "prove" evolution to be true.

Most important... however... is the fact that we (scientists) have already "proven" evolution to be true by virtue of having disproven all other testable hypotheses. In other words, it's all that's left, and so you must conclude that it reflects an accurate understanding of our world.

But that all said, we can still discuss why evolution matters in general, and why discovering new fossils matters specifically.

First those human fossils... Discovering fossils of our closest, extinct relatives is about understanding ourselves. Learning where we come from biologically is no less important than learning where we come from historically. In fact, I'd argue that it's more important. Understanding our evolutionary history allows us to understand the diversity within our species. It gives us the ability to understand human behaviors, anatomy, even the physiology of our digestive system is affected by these finds. Then of course, there's just the fascination... Fossils are fascinating, wonderful things generally, but ***our OWN*** fossils... What could be more interesting?!?!? Oh... and don't forget that a good, general public understanding of human evolution has the potential to change the world! It frees us from mythology... It equalizes our cultures. It makes us confront our naturalism and place in nature. It helps us value our lives.

Understanding evolution is what much of biology is concerned with today, and your question essentially asks why we should *keep* working at it since it's already the most well established scientific theory in the world. And the answer is because we don't understand all of it yet! There's still more to learn, all of which can benefit us either practically, or intellectually. Will it change our lives...? Yes! Absolutely! The discovery of the Flores Island hominid just a couple of years ago shook some people's religious beliefs to their core. Seeing that humans "obey" the predictions of evolutionary theory was a striking example of our place in nature (i.e., part of it).

I think this is a big question you were asked to explore, albeit not necessarily entirely clear. My suggestion would be to think about and address the *implications* of evolution. Evolution is a fact. It *does* occur. The word "theory" is just used to describe the body of knowledge that constitutes our understanding of those facts. So if possible, I would try to look into the implications for human society, behavior, religion, health/medicine, and similar sorts of things.

Good luck on your project!

Answer 8

I think the general consensus is that we developed from a common ancestor to the apes, rather than actually developing from the apes.

As such, it will be very difficult to find a "missing link" because such a fossil may not exist if we are looking for an ape/human type hybrid.

The perfect result would be to find the human/ape equivalent of a feathered dinosaur fossil (like Archaeopteryx), but it is difficult to determine where human traits end and ape-like traits begin.

I'm not sure that "companies" have spent billions in looking for the missing link but certainly a great deal of money has been invested in the search for our human ancestors, which has consistently pushed back the dawn of man earlier and earlier.

As to whether this makes a difference or not - well, not directly to me. It is, however, all extremely important in our constant search for knowledge to know where we came from.

Good luck with your homework.

Answer 9

"Why is it so important to find out if the theory of Evolution is true?"
To prove us creationists wrong, same answer for the second question. And that thescientists will have no doubts, whatsoever, about Evolution being true.
"What will happen to our lives if it is proven?"
Intelligent Design has already been booted from the schools for years now, so the only thing I can see changing is it getting banned from private/home schooling textbooks (which would cause a great uproar in the home schooling families all across the globe).
"Will the status of your life change? Why or why not?"
I don't see mine changing. I already firmly believe in a world created by an Intelligent Being. I might get made fun of for it more often, but, that's alright.

Answer 10

> companies actually spend billions
You mean colleges and universities. Lots of paleontologists and anthropologists and archeologists.

> why is it so important to find out if the theory of evolution is true?
Un, last time I checked, the Theory of Evolution IS true.

> will the status of your life change?
Nope. I already revere my ape and monkey ancestors. Don't you?

Answer 11

>"they said that there's a missing link on the theory of evolution"

WHO is "they"?? You will find that no scientist ... not one ... ever ... has said there is a "missing link on the theory of evolution."

Only people who hate evolution talk about a "missing link." It is a bogus, non-scientific concept.

>"and if that missing link is found, it will be proven that we descended from apes/monkeys"

What??? Again, this is nonsense ... and no scientist says this.

The "they" you seem to be talking about is the anti-evolution people.

Evolution is very simple ... but it's not STUPID.

Anti-evolution people are filling your head with a STUPID version of the theory of evolution, just so they can call it STUPID.

(And please note ... I am not calling YOU "stupid". I don't know you. I am only referring to the cartoon version of evolution that *somebody* has taught you.)

>"companies actually spend billions and billions of money to find this missing link"

What companies? What billions?

PLEASE ... whoever is giving you information is giving you TERRIBLE information. They are TRYING to keep you completely confused about evolution so that you don't understand it.

{edit}

Thanks for clarification. But then please realize that your own opinion about evolution is based on "rumors." Evolution is accepted almost unanimously by scientists (as in literally 95% to 99% of anyone in a scientific field). Nothing in science is ever "proven."

As for my opinion, the reason I think this issue is *VITALLY* important is that it is a measure of the health of science education. We have become a nation of people who have no real understanding of even the BASICS of science ... like your use of the word "proof" or "proven" instead of evidence ... or the fact that your opinion is based on "rumors."

When religious leaders insist on *literal* interpretation of the Bible that (say) puts the age of the earth at 6,000 years, which to a scientist sounds as plausible as earth weighing 6,000 pounds (about the weight of a Dodge Ram pickup), but well-meaning Christians say "sounds reasonable to me." ... then we have a serious problem in our country.

If people can be that easily swayed to an *ABSURD* position by completely irrational logic and open contempt for science and evidence ... then when it comes time to evaluate claims like "there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq", or "global warming is a myth" ... the people in our country are *completely* vulnerable. Politicians can just lead us by the nose.

That's why this issue of evolution vs. creationism is important. It is the *canary-in-the-coal-mine* as far as how well Americans either trust or despise scientists, or how well they understand the concept of *EVIDENCE*.